Thank you for that. 

Do you know if 3600 speed ram will work on this MB?

I was told that my Gaming experience / video could be bottlenecking due to slow ram. 

I think dell sells these r9s with faster RAM though. 

So the MB is a z390?

Per Dell's datasheet posted on their support site, the MB is z370.

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/04/alienware-aurora-r9-desktop/alienware-aurora-r9-setup-and-specifications/chipset?guid=guid-9735fcab-1a62-42bb-a7cd-04a062aef546&lang=en-us

Here are the supported DDR memories from the same datasheet:

Good to know I can Atleast do 3200

that I have to throw away the 2660

Maybe I can put it in my office computer. 

I think the RAM is the least of your worries. Best put your energy into figuring out what's going on with the 2080 Ti. Good thing you kept things under control with the custom fan curve. I've always felt unsure how a 250W GPU would work well in a casing like the Aurora R8/R9.

BTW, I swung by local BB earlier and noticed that for the R9, the front bezel is recessed deep inwards near to the front of the inner frame. Probably rules out the possibility of sticking a 15mm thick fan there for GPU radiator cooling.

Dell has decided to send me a 2080ti to replace the one that gets loud under load. 

(I’m hoping the card I receive isn’t used, or refurbished) 

Having the original thermal paste would be nice. I would hate to downgrade from my new video card. 

I downloaded msi afterburner, and have been getting very good temps when using custom fan curve. 

The only time the GPU goes full rpm, is when I put the fan speed setting on auto. (Which I don’t think is normal) 

Does anyone know of a way to figure out if the card is new? I assume if it’s a brown dell box, it’s used. And if it’s new it will be an EVGA box? 

I don't think you'll get retail package (EVGA/MSI) when getting parts from Dell, new or used. You'll have to run the product's serial number against Dell Sales and get their written answer so that you have some leverage in case things go south.

There are many reasons why your new card can still go full throttle when put on auto. Some legit reason includes the card's BIOS setting and the sensitivity of the thermal sensing circuits. If it works with Afterburner, is that still an issue?

I do NOT have the issue then the customizing the fan speed to 50-60%

Temps dont eclipse 65C when fan speeds are set to 60% using the afterburner.. 

Maybe from it running really hot for 2 months caused some thermal paste to burn off? 

Should I still swap the card for a new one? The Dell guy is coming tomorrow. 

Maybe I should try and swap it. Then see if it does the same thing on auto. And make sure theres no GPU whine.

My warranty wont change. 

And I was wrong about the fan getting loud with the fan speed set to 60%.. 

It still reaches 81C, and gets very loud.. I am definitely swapping it out. 

It never did this the whole 2 months of me owning it. So im thinking the thermal paste has gone bad.  

If it resets the clock on the warranty, I'd say go for it!

Just disassembled the GPU.

Looks like thermal paste COULD be the issue. 

The car/ heat sink Had some missing paste on the corners. 

Please tell me if you think my application of T paste is "good enough" 

I have already tested this. And the fans are NOT loud anymore. And the RPMs are maxing out. BUT the temps do seem to be 1 or 2C higher. Could need a better coating of t paste. 

So if I get the NEW card from DELL tomorrow, ill most likely just reapply thermal paste. And hope for the best....